The United States Of Food: The Most Well-Funded Food & Beverage Startups In Each State

While tech startups have always been concentrated in Silicon Valley, new food and beverage companies are a little more diffused. Alternative hotspots have sprung up — Colorado, for example, due in part to the influence of Colorado-based food investors such as Boulder Food Group and Boulder Investment Group Reprise (BIGR).

Following our previous mapping of the most well-funded startups in each state, we used our CB Insights database to identify the most well-funded private food and beverage startup in each state. We looked at private, active companies which have raised equity funding since 2012, and we looked solely at companies making and selling consumer packaged foods and drinks. We excluded food delivery startups and food research startups. We also excluded alcoholic beverages and wholesale food providers.

New York is host to the most well-funded company on our map: All Market, the company behind the coconut water brand Vita Coco. All Market has a long fundraising history, starting with a seed round back in 2006, and progressing to a $165M investment in 2014 by the Reignwood Group (the parent company of Red Bull China) which valued All Market at $665M. Overall, All Market has raised $208M. California ranks second, with its most well-funded startup, cold-pressed juice brand Suja Juice, having raised $196M.

Following California, we see a major drop-off in the war chests of food and beverage startups in other states. No startup outside of NY and CA has raised more than $100M. In third place is Virginia. The state’s most well-funded startup Shenandoah Growers, a fresh and cut herbs company, has raised $47M from Middleland Capital, S2G Ventures, and others. Minnesota is fourth with Cameron’s Coffee, which raised $44.5M in private equity in 2014. Rounding out the top five is Colorado with NextFoods, a beverage startup making probiotic juices under the brand GoodBelly. NextFoods raised $24M from Maveron and Emil Capital Partners.

Of course, many food and beverage companies are mainly funded by revenue, and are less reliant on venture capital or equity fundraising. Several states were not home to any investor-backed food startups and these are signified by grey in the map. Check out the full map and company list below.

Please click to enlarge. Graphic includes private, active, packaged food producers that have raised external investment since 2012.

Company list

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